"I would like to apologize to Brock Lesnar, his family, the UFC, and the UFC fans for my stupid remarks. I respect Brock, all the other fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts. I’m sorry that I stepped out of line."—[i]Frank Mir[/i]

I figured that it would be most appropriate that I write about Mir’s apology, because in fairness, I was probably one of his toughest critics in these past couple of days.

“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”—[i]Bruce Lee[/i]

In fact, I should be thanking Frank Mir.

Despite what some fight fans may think, I do not hate Frank Mir. I never have.

Have I been a bit critical of him for some of his “mind-game” antics? Yes.

Did he annoy me during his stint as a TUF coach with his constant “Junie...Niiiiiiicce!” remarks? Yes.

So then, why (at the risk of sounding like a back-peddler—which would require an apology, by the way) am I thanking Frank Mir?

I am thanking him, because if not for him, we would not have all been discussing the issue of fight-hyping, trash-talking, and “how far is too far?”

Here is an obvious example: "I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries.”—Frank Mir, WXDX Radio

It’s tough to say that this comment crossed the line because in fairness to Mir, there was no predetermined line to cross. Bad behaviour has been tolerated and excused by many up until this point, and there needs to be a higher level of accountability and professionalism in MMA if we want this sport to continue its incredible growth as an industry (still not legal in New York and Ontario).

For all of the complaining that fight fans did when Brock Lesnar first came into the UFC about not wanting it to emulate the poor characteristics and bad behaviours typically found in the WWE, I was surprised that some fans didn’t really have a problem with Mir’s remarks. In fact, they liked them.

Personally, I found them unprofessional, irresponsible, and downright idiotic.

Anyway, enough said about that. We all make mistakes.

It’s water under the bridge for this fight fan.

Lord knows that I am in no way perfect, and the folks that are probably the most upset with me for writing my last article (c’mon Gary...how ‘bout a hug?!) would certainly be the first in line to tell you exactly that.

I accept that about myself, and I accept that about Frank Mir.

I take my responsibility as a parent and as a coach seriously.

Maybe a little too seriously sometimes...

In fact, a common trend amongst my articles (even the ones bashing Tito) has been ensuring that all professional athletes act in a way that influences our youth positively and responsibly.

Admittedly, Frank Mir had me second guessing my own involvement in this sport. Even some of the comments by the fans had me wondering, why on earth I would want to associate my name and reputation with MMA.

Then, I received this private e-mail from a young man:

“I was trying to get my dad to watch MMA. I was showing him stuff on the web and telling him about the sport. When we came up on Mir’s comments . He is a very critical man and decided he did not think much of the sportsmanship. This morning I sent him a link to your article. He liked what he read. He emailed me back and said maybe. I appreciate your article because it does show that the fans are not barbaric and do not think it should be tolerated. I read somewhere Mir would not let his children watch TUF because of a reason that in my opinion was not even close to what he said. Please excuse spelling and capital letters I’m really trying.”

This has really inspired me to keep going and so, like it or not, I will continue to speak out on the things that I do not like about this sport, in the hopes that one day, it could be something that everyone would all be proud to let their own children get involved with (it’s all about planting “roots,” folks).

Look, I’m not a naive guy.

I know that this is a violent sport. I just really thought that Mir went too far.

More than anything, I felt that Mir’s remarks warranted a serious discussion, exploring all possible consequences.

Martial arts, for me, has NEVER been about violence. I don’t see any competitive fighting sport that way. I have always looked at it more like a physical chess game.

A Sport!

Why would I want to endorse and promote MMA if I thought that it was just stupid brutality?

I could just go down to any local bar instead and watch two idiots kick the crap out of each other for free.

You can call me soft if you want (thanks Stoke), but I call it...being responsible.

And in the best interests of Frank Mir and his mental health, I feel the following quote by a “fan” sums it up best:

“Realistically, the loss to Lesnar has obviously affected Mir and it's clear that he's got some issues involving Lesnar to the level that his judgment is clouded on subjects relating to Brock. I know when I heard him say his motivation to train insane and beat Kongo was so that he could one day tear off Brocks arm in a rematch, I actually was on the fence about where Frank was mentally with his loss. I don't wonder now, Frank needs some closure on that issue, whether it's in the cage or in a therapists room, he needs it badly, it's clear. We've all said and done things we have regretted or STILL regret because we haven't reconciled the situation and I'm pretty sure at SOME point it would be prudent for Frank to make an apology for what was said and rectify his career in the sport.”

I think I'm ok with this. Not the best apology but it's enough for me. Fighters are not politicians and don't always say the smartest things. While this was down right stupid, he's still just a fighter. While he tries to sound smarter than he really is, clearly he is not with these types of comments. I'm glad he made a quick apology but don't know if he would have if Dana hadn't chewed his arse. I'm ready to move on, bring on Carwin/Mir and lets see Mir do something he's actually really good at. :D

Last edited 2/24/10 12:03PM server time by woluntEdit note/reason: n/a

I would've been cool if Mir had said "Yeah, I took it a little too far...My comments were just angry and I wasn't thinking. I am sorry I said what I did about Lesnar, but I still don't like the guy."To me that would've seemed more sincere...as it is now, I don't think MIr's apology counts for anything.

EDIT: I didn't really care too much when Mir said what he did... The only people who I think would really care are UFC, sponsors, media and maybe Lesnar & Family. Or maybe Mir should care because Lesnar seems to take remarks like this somewhat personally.However, I do feel that if he wanted to apologize then he could've made a more sincere sounding sorry.

Last edited 2/24/10 5:54PM server time by State_ChampEdit note/reason: n/a

I would've been cool if Mir had said "Yeah, I took it a little too far...My comments were just angry and I wasn't thinking. I am sorry I said what I did about Lesnar, but I still don't like the guy."To me that would've seemed more sincere...as it is now, I don't think MIr's apology counts for anything.

Frankly i don't care , but obviously dana called him and told him to make a public apology (and rightfully so) . Im sure he really meant the original comments and would not have apologized had there been no backlash from the fans/media/dana . Too late for a cover up .

it really didnt bother or shock me at all, after all we grew up in the era of mike tyson wanting to eat peoples children. the PC thing to do was apologize and he did that, theres not a whole lot else he can do at this point. i didnt like the guys attitude before this and i still dont so i guess the comments changed nothing about how i viewed him, except that after all his talk about "martial arts are this and that" he basically did the thing he hated about lesnar and went WWE with his comments. he just added hipocrite to his rap sheet.

Last edited 2/24/10 4:23PM server time by cowcatcherEdit note/reason: n/a

The comment was a litte much. We can get into the long discussion on how MMA is still fairly new, and is trying to change its image, and it is true. We do not need guys, especially ones who are in the spotlight saying they want to kill, or have their opponents die in the cage or ring. Apology accepted it was the right thing for him to do. Hopefully this will all be settled in the cage very soon. If and when it does, in my opinion Brock wins same way as last time.

the only problem i had with Mirs comment was that he as far as to say he wanted lesnar to be the first death in MMA, this soundbite is BEGGING some government goof to run with it,

other wise i have no problem with fighters saying i wanna snapped this guys neck or beat him to death,or ima kill him in there, i mean come, they're not going to do it, they're just motivating themselves,

while they are pros, they're also fighter, fighter are normally not very nice people

Frankly i don't care , but obviously dana called him and told him to make a public apology (and rightfully so) . Im sure he really meant the original comments and would not have apologized had there been no backlash from the fans/media/dana . Too late for a cover up .

What I'm tired of is the overstated speeches. Now it's one thing if it's funny. Like eating children... that's funny. You know he's not going to literally hurt his children, but he's just making a joke and it's an intimidating one. But all this I'm going to kill you in the ring stuff? Come on, that's not even funny or serious. Is that supposed to be intimidating? Mir knows he doesn't intend on killing Lesnar in the ring. Sure he intends to put on a major hurt, but to kill the man in the ring?

I enjoy trash talking and hype, but let's make it good trash talk. Don't just be saying you're going to kill someone and not mean it. It's more intimidating to me if Frank Mir just said I am going to hurt Lesnar for 4 rounds and, then in the 5th round put him out of his misery. That's more intimidating than a hollow threat.